Faetano, the gypsum-top castello that gave itself up

Faetano wasn’t won in battle; it gave itself up. In 1463, in the thick of the war between the Malatesta lords of Rimini and Pope Pius II, this castello handed itself over to the Sammarinese troops, who were on the Church’s side, and it has belonged to the Republic ever since. Today it’s a quiet village in the east, perched above the Marano valley, and what it offers a traveller is mostly landscape.

A village on gypsum

The castello council describes it clinging to a massive spur of gypsum rock that drops sheer to the Marano stream. The settlement may go back to Roman times, as «castrum faitani» or «Fegetani», from «faggio», the beech tree. The assumption is that beech woods once covered the area, though they’ve almost disappeared. The tree survives on the coat of arms, and I have a soft spot for villages that keep a lost landscape on their flag.

Wikipedia adds that in the 13th century Faetano belonged to the municipality of Rimini, and because of those roots its two parishes stayed in the Rimini diocese for more than five centuries, until 1977. It’s a neat illustration of how slowly some borders settle round here. The story of the five castelli gained in 1463 is in San Marino’s castelli.

Gullies, few houses and plenty of countryside

With 1,204 residents on 30 June 2026 over 7.75 km², Faetano is one of the least built-up castelli. The government puts that down to the terrain, full of calanchi, the clay gullies carved by streams running down to the Marano. People once lived off cereals, fodder, gypsum quarrying and brick kilns. These days most jobs are in the Ca’ Chiavello industrial area, with ceramics, chemicals and plastics, and one of the country’s banks has its head office here.

What to see in Faetano

The square is the heart of it all. It has the church of St Paul the Apostle, consecrated in 1917, and the Casa del Castello, nicknamed the Casone, which houses the library and a youth club. According to Wikipedia, its small stone tower holds the Republic’s oldest clock, brought from the Parva Domus in the capital. On the edge of the village is the school, a large building from the Fascist era that gained two extra floors in the 1950s.

The thing I’d seek out, though, is the Parco del Marano. The government describes it as a green area following the river along its San Marino stretch, with a path laid out for long walks beyond the village, and says it’s often used for festivals. Beside the Marano road there’s also Lake Faetano, a man-made fishing lake. Wikipedia gives its size as 120 metres by 40, opened in 1971, just 40 metres from Italy. For more walks, see San Marino’s walking trails.

Festivals

In the official 2024 calendar, Faetano held its Madonna festival on 18 and 19 May and its castello festival from 5 to 7 July. With no 2026 calendar published, I’d check with the council. There’s a crossbow connection too, as Faetano won the Torneo dei Castelli in 2005, which might lead you to the Cava dei Balestrieri if target shooting interests you.

Getting there

By bus, the circular AASS lines 3D and 3S leave car park P2 in the City and link Borgo Maggiore, Ca’ Rigo, Faetano, Ca’ Chiavello, Montegiardino and Fiorentino, on weekdays. At other times the SMUVI on-demand minibus covers the same stops. A car is the easiest way to combine it with the southern castelli; details are in getting around San Marino.